Thousands in Istanbul pray for ex-Egyptian president Morsi

Thousands joined in prayer in Istanbul on Tuesday for former Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi who died the previous day after collapsing during a trial hearing in a Cairo court. The prayers, called by Turkey's religious authority Diyanet, took place in the city's Fatih mosque. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a close ally of Morsi, is due to attend afternoon prayers there.

Ankara's relations with Cairo deteriorated after the Egyptian military, then led by Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, ousted Morsi in 2013. Sisi then became president. Erdogan on Monday called Morsi a "martyr" and blamed Egypt's "tyrants" for his death. Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president in 2012 after the Arab Spring uprisings, was overthrown after a turbulent year in power. He was buried on Tuesday, as rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called for an independent probe into the causes of his death.